Friday, 23 March 2012

This cartoon made us chuckle at Art Division - as, with all the new updates Google has released lately - including Panda, Search Plus Your World and Venice, Search Engine Optimisation can seem complicated !

This week, we'd like to give you the chance to ask any SEO related questions. Confused about copy? Lost over keywords? Perplexed over blogs?

Thursday, 15 March 2012

It is about location though - and its importance in search engine results.

The recent Venice update by Google means that more and more searches which don't precise location will come up with local results.

For example, if you type "bakery" with your location set, you'll get results that are in your local area, alongside "national" results.

With no location set:

When my location is set to Bath, UK.

Think it's a fluke? Try it yourself, for your business - whether that be with the search term "dentist", "SEO", "florist" or "italian restaurant", the effect will be the same.

This is especially important as because Google auto-detects your location, almost any search will start to return localized results over general results.

How to optimise your website for location?

1) Check out the competition
Chances are, there's something about their website that's led them to that top Google ranking.

Google Place Listing
In the example above, all of the local results shown are also visible on the map on the right hand side.

Title Tag and description
Whilst pretty standard SEO, it's important to ensure you've got the right keywords, alongside your location in here.

2) Get ahead of the competition - do better !

To get ahead in the rankings, you need to do more than the competition.

Consider:

Site Architecture
It's not just product pages that need to be optimised ! Consider how ALL your pages will rank in terms of localised search.

Unique Localised Page Content
This means not having multiple pages with the same content and just the location changed. Thanks to the Panda update, low quality content (especially if it is duplicated), having "cookie cutter" content across your site just isn't adequate.

How does your site do in localised searches? Are you getting on the first page?
If you need any help with your website optimisation or you struggle to rank on page 1 of Google for your area, contact us and we will work our magic to get you there.

This book offers an excellent overview of all the key elements of internet marketing, including keyword research, link building and viral marketing.

5. 25 "Must Haves" for for Driving Traffic, Leads and Sales - Hubspot

This guide really is a must-read if you're thinking about building a new website - or indeed, your website isn't generating as many leads as you'd hoped for. Divided into 4 main parts: Get Found Online, Design & Usability, Content and Conversion, it covers all the bases !

Friday, 2 March 2012

Just this week, Facebook launched timeline for Brand Pages. So, what does this mean for your business Facebook page? Here's our rundown on all the major changes.

Cover Photo

Just like for personal profiles, cover photos are 850 x 315 pixels.

Facebook advises:

"Cover images must be at least 399 pixels wide and may not contain:- Price or purchase information, such as "40% off" or "Download it at our website"

- Contact information, such as web address, email, mailing address or other information intended for your Page's About section

- References to user interface elements, such as Like or Share, or any other Facebook site features

- Calls to action, such as "Get it now" or "Tell your friends" "

Views and Apps

Remember those super cool extra tabs on the left hand menu? These have now moved just below the cover photo.

The default view will show up to 4 apps, and "Photos" will always be one of them.

For custom apps, you can change their image on the tab (the dimensions are 107 x 70 pixels). For example, have a look at Starbucks's page below (screenshot taken looking at the expanded view).

Unlike before, it is no longer possible to set a default landing page, visitors will always arrive on your timeline.

Extra Tabs

When creating new tabs, you now have the choice between two widths, 520px (like before) or 810px.

Pages become more social

This is as the visitors "friends who are fans" and "brand mentions" are very prominently displayed at the top of the timeline:

Weekly highlighted posts

It is possible to "pin" a certain post to the top of your wall, where it will remain for 7 days. This means it will be one of the first things your visitors see when they arrive on your page. It's simple to "unpin" it before this though if you wish.

Milestone

Milestones can be used to highlight an important moment in your businesses history. Starbucks page is full of them, if you scroll down!

To create milestones on your page, change to "Use Facebook as a page" (top right hand corner) and then click on Milestone (as shown below in orange).

What do you think about all the new changes? Love them or hate them, let us know in the comments !

What we offer:

About Art Division - developing websites that Google loves

We are a team of techies and marketers dedicated to the 'what's new' questions of the Internet. We love the Web - from designing and developing bespoke websites for our clients to running digital marketing and social media campaigns and exploring and implementing new ways to generate more quality traffic and enquiries.